Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the technical field of medical equipment, in particular to a spectrometer and a signal processing board for a magnetic resonance imaging system.
Description of the Prior Art
Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is an imaging technology involving biomagnetics and nuclear spin which has advanced rapidly with the development of computer technology, electronic circuit technology and superconductor technology. It uses a magnetic field and radio frequency (RF) pulses to induce oscillation of precessing hydrogen nuclei (i.e. H+) in human tissue, to generate RF signals which are processed by a computer to form an image. If an object is placed in a magnetic field and irradiated by suitable electromagnetic waves to produce resonance therein, and electromagnetic waves released thereby are then analyzed, it is possible to learn the positions and types of the atomic nuclei of which the object is composed. On this basis, a precise three-dimensional image of the interior of the object can be drawn. For instance, a moving picture of contiguous slices can be obtained by performing an MRI scan of the human brain.
A control computer is a controlling part of an MRI system. The control computer is used for generating and outputting radio frequency (RF) signals and magnetic field gradient signals, and also used for receiving and processing RF signals from local coils, etc.
In a control computer in the prior art, RF signals and magnetic field gradient signals are processed by means of fixed signal processing channels (including a receiving channel and a transmitting channel). However, due to the fact that the signal processing channels are fixed, the configurability of the control computer is not high, so it is unlikely to be suitable for many types of MRI system.